A deputy probation officer is accused of conspiring to smuggle Xanax into a Sylmar juvenile hall, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Michael Angelo Solis, 59, was charged with one felony count each of bringing a controlled substance into a juvenile hall; conspiracy to bring a controlled substance into a juvenile hall; possession for sale of alprazolam, which is commonly called Xanax; and conspiracy to possess alprazolam for sale, according to the DA’s office.
Solis worked at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, where he allegedly conspired with a youth detainee to sell alprazolam pills for hundreds of dollars between May and August 2023, prosecutors said.
A conviction could result in as many as three years in state prison.
“Trafficking illegal drugs to juveniles is unconscionable under any circumstances, let alone as a government employee taking advantage of vulnerable youth in need of guidance and support,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “Probation officers have as their primary duty the protection, health and safety of juveniles under their care. My office will not tolerate such an abuse of power, which endangers youth, undermines rehabilitation and makes our communities less safe.”
In a statement shortly after the charges were announced, the LA County Probation Department said Solis “has been on ordered absence through the duration of the investigation.”
The department said it has worked closely with the DA’s office on the investigation immediately after the allegations surfaced.
“There is no room in this department for anyone who violates the public trust and endangers the safety and well-being of the youth in our care,” Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa said in the statement. “We applaud the action taken by District Attorney Nathan Hochman and remain steadfast in our commitment to holding our staff to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and accountability.”
State regulators ordered the Nidorf juvenile hall to close after finding the facility unsuitable to house youth in July 2023.
Xanax is a powerful depressant drug from the benzodiazepine group, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Abuse is often associated with teens and young adults who ingest pills orally or crush them in order to snort the narcotic.
